27 January 2010

Most Gen-Y dabblers probably associate 'game' with 'Milton Bradley,' but unlike those of us at Springfield's home office, they're thinking 'baseball', not Battleship. The name may belong to the right fielder of the Seattle Mariners today, but when we were kids, MiltonBradley meant one thing -- board games. We owe good ol' MB a lot for all the hours he helped us pass by playing his Game of Life, and of course, Battleship - along with Candyland- still remain two of our faves. Since those halcyon days of our board-dom, Hasbro's absorbed the old man's company and 'MB' are two initials that've faded into vintage kitsch.

We say vintage, shim-tage. Because if you're as old as we abbracadabblers are, then you'll probably remember one of the coolest toys - MB or otherwise - from the early 1980’s -- the Big Trak. The Big Trak ushered in the 80's; it hit the toy stores in a big way back in 1979. It was a hella cool, futuristic-looking autonomous robot with six wheels straight out of BattlestarGalactica, and it could be programmed to move around wherever you wanted using the built in keypad, which could program the mini-bot with wheels up to sixteen different ways. Despite our lusting, Big Trak was one of the childhood wants we never quite got into our grabby little hands. If only we knew then what we know now: Big Trak's back in 2010, and he's going by the name of 'Junior'.

The Bigtrak Jrwill be smaller than the original version, but that's not a bad thing, since you can now program it up to 32 steps. The Bigtrak Jr also has a built-in port which can accept a number of different add on gadget -- among them, a digital camera and a rocket launcher. (Junior's gadgets will be sold separately, natch!)

Junior'sdigital camera gadget-attachment

Digital keys a plenty come standard onJunior

We're betting that plenty of Generation Z (?) kids will discover their own kind of affinity for the toy, which should find its way to market by the summer. The new Bigtrack's no longer from Milton-Bradley or Hasbro, however; instead, Junior's available compliments of the guys at Bigtrackisback -- and for the reasonable price of just $48.00. Want one- eed one? Dabblers shop HERE.